Behind the Queens
by Consulting-Novak-of-Gallifrey
Summary: Charlie Fitzgerald was a new roadie, the new Guitar Technician to be exact. She was creative and passionate, and loved her job. Queen notices this, and welcomes her in with open arms, as they do with all of their roadies. But when the band's lead guitarist Brian May starts having feelings her her, the whole band jumps in to support them, making her feel like part of the family.
1. Chapter 1

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Chapter One: Red is for Drums/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"The roadies were setting up the Hammersmith Odeon. It was the 27supth/sup of November, 1975, and Queen were touring their newest album, 'A Night at the Opera' with hits such as em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Bohemian Rhapsody, I'm in Love with My Car /emand em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"'39/em, written by Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and Brian May style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThis set of roadies was bigger than the last, due to the band's growing popularity. It was the norm for the roadies to stay more or less the same throughout a band's touring career, but if more are needed, then more are gotten. This is how Charlie Fitzgerald joined the crew that set up the band's instruments and made sure they all worked properly. She was technically a Guitar Technician, so it was her job to make sure that John Deacon's bass and Brian's 'Red Special' lead guitar were kept in perfect working condition; but in saying this, due to the amount of work needed to set up Queen's tours, she would also help set up Roger's drum kit. His 18-piece drum kit. Let that sink in. Due to the Roger being Roger, he was very specific about the set up of his kit (not that anyone blamed him, he was a very talented drummer and needed to play without looking for periods of time so he could sing, so knowing where everything was was crucial). /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanDue to being the lone guitar specialist, Charlie worked closely with Brian and John, which was quite fun. They kept her on her toes, with Brian breaking strings here and there with his shredding guitar solos, and John fussing over everything and wanting to do it all himself, despite having people specifically to do it for him. John had an honour's degree in electrical engineering, hence his fussing. He had built Brian's amp, helping give Brian his distinctive sound. Brian affectionately called it the 'Deacy Amp'. But John was also very quiet, very reserved, so he would often sneak off to work on things without telling anyone, but Charlie had started to notice this and kept reminding him, in a friendly but stern way, that it was her job to do that, and that this guy could do that, and that the others were about to start their sound check and need you plugged in. He would usually laugh at being caught but stay around to make sure the job was done right by whoever was actually meant to do it. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAs it took the most time to set up, Roger's drum set was first on the agenda. The band was resting up, having performed the day before and so most of the setting up happened now, so it was ready for sound checks and practises. Having been on tours with a few bands, Charlie liked how Queen treated them. Most bands would just play their sets, like a live version of the studio albums, but not Queen; they made it into a show, a proper show. Freddie would strut around the stage, get the audience involved. The band would interact with each other, taking cues to improvise, and talk to the crowd during breaks for instrument changes, Roger was known for pouring beer on his drums for a cool affect when he struck them. They were also very nice and respectful to the roadies, which wasn't/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe first boxes rolled out of the buses were the red ones, with 'em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Red is for: drums'/em printed on them. There were quite a few of them, and most of them were quite heavy, needing a decent amount of momentum to push them up the ramps to the stage and then up to Roger's elevation. Everyone helped getting these up to the stage due to the sheer amount of them, even those who were front of house, or sound engineers, or lighting technicians. Everyone knew how difficult it was to set up Roger's kit, so they would help where they could so the three of us that oversaw the instruments could set it up easier. They greatly appreciated the help, they can tell you that. Without the help it would take them a good hour, if not more, to get all the cases up to where they needed to go. Instead the drums were all up onto the elevation within ten minutes, record time. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAs Charlie pushed her crate up the ramp, she couldn't help but admire her tattoo sleeve, which she helped design, featuring endangered animals such as the Fennec Fox, Sumatran Tiger and Screech Owl, surrounded by geometric dot work and flowers. She was very happy with it, but due to it being Winter in England she hadn't seen it in a while, but she knew that putting the drum kit together was pretty intensive and took her jacket off. This left her in a flowy black singlet, skinny jeans and combat boots. They weren't required to wear black unless they were the back stage crew and it was a show, but black was the majority of Charlie's wardrobe, so she wore it most of the time anyway. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe bass drum, the foundation of the kit, was already set up by the time Charlie got her case up the ramps. The front skin had been changed to feature Queen's crest, the cover of the album, designed by Freddie and featuring the Zodiac signs of the band members (Two lions for the Leos; John and Roger. A crab for the Cancer; Brian. And Two fairies for Freddie, a Virgo and a bit of a drama queen). Next they attached the small and medium toms, screwing them onto the bass. Then the snare onto the medium tom, and the floor tom by the small tom. They were attaching the cymbals to their stands, and they didn't notice the figure approaching from below them, on the stage./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Having fun there?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe sudden noise caught the techs off guard, scaring them. Luckily Clint and Steve weren't the ones attaching the beads to the underneath of the snare and didn't hit their head. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sorry, love, you alright?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie rubbed her head, not realising that she recognised that gruff voice, and sat up from underneath the drums and glared at the guy. She soon realised it was Roger Taylor, wearing his black button down with the first couple undone, form-fitting jeans and sunglasses. She immediately back-peddled, "Yes, of course. What can we do for you, Mr Taylor?" He was meant to be resting, sound check wasn't for another… 5 minutes! Time flies when you're setting up an 18-piece drum kit. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger laughed, "No need to be so formal, newbie, we're all family around here, call me Roger. I was just checking in, seeing if you needed a hand, with sound check soon and all."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yes, of course. We lost track of time," Clint, the Drum tech said, "I would appreciate the help, Roger, if you wouldn't mind."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger made his way around to the stairs at the back of the elevation, "No, I offered just to be a dick, of course I wouldn't mind. This was my job for a while, and I know how much of a pain it is." He held a hand out to Charlie, "Are you sure you're alright?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie nodded softly, and took Roger's hand, using his help to stand up, "Yeah, didn't hit anything vital, thanks."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger smiled again, "Least I could do to the only female roadie around here. Chivalry is not dead."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie hadn't realised she was the only female, it didn't surprise her, it was normal nowadays. All the more to prove herself. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What's your name, lovely?" Roger asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe smiled, "Charlie."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"A beautiful name."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Thank you. Unfortunately, I have to check the guitars."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Of course, you're the new guitar tech. Good luck with John, he likes to do everything himself."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed, "I'll keep that in mind." And with that she made her way across the stage and to the crates that held the guitars, their amps, their cords and spare parts like strings. She opened the bass crate which held John Deacon's bass guitar, plugged it into a small amp and started to tune it (given it only had four strings it was quicker). It didn't take long, as a show was only played yesterday, and by the time she finished a quiet John had appeared./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Your bass is all tuned, Mr. Deacon." Despite being told so by Roger, she had a habit of being too formal to the band members she worked for. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn smiled, "Thanks for that, Charlie. You don't have to be formal to any of us, really. In fact, I'm pretty sure Fred would get pretty annoyed at the idea," He was still smiling, so Charlie took this as a 'nice annoyed' not a 'lost your job annoyed'. He chuckled at an unheard joke as Charlie handed him his bass, and wondered off to the roadies setting up the amps to get plugged in. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie started to tune Brian's lead guitar, named the 'Red Special'. It is said that he made it himself, with the help of his father, when he was young, from a 200-year-old mantlepiece. It cost less than £13 to buy the few parts they couldn't make themselves, like the strings and the tuning pegs. They were quite creative, making the Vibrato arm out of a sewing needle, and carving the body and neck of the guitar themselves. It still played the same as most guitars, but Charlie couldn't help but admire the craftmanship. The design was very ahead of its time, too, with six switches next to the nobs, one to turn each of the three pickups off and the other three to change their polarity. Most guitars still don't do that. The hand-made guitar helped give Brian his unique sound, along with his strange habit for playing with a sixpence (A British coin) and not a typical pick. Charlie being Charlie, carries a pick around everywhere, and after tuning gave into the urge to play some songs she knew. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Darling, have you seen Maggie… I mean Brian?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBeing frightened for the third time, Charlie was getting sick of it. However, she knew that voice belonged to Freddie Mercury, who had a strange habit of his own; giving female nicknames to everyone. Especially those who weren't female. She was smiling when she turned to him, "No, actually, I thought you would've known where he was."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie sighed and shook his head, "It's like she's disappeared off the face of the Earth!" He announced, throwing his arms into the air dramatically. "We have sound check in a mo." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I can play for sound check if you need, if you can't find him."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie looked down at the guitar around her neck, "Could you, darling? That would be fabulous." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe just smiled and started playing the guitar solo from 'Killer Queen'. She sounded nothing like Brian May, only Brian May sounded like Brian May, but she could play the riff and that's what seemed to matter. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie began to beam, "Fabulous, darling, fabulous! I shall take that as a 'yes'."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Of course, it would be my pleasure."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Wonderful," He was still beaming when he walked away and begins talking to the Sound Technician, Tony, probably about the sound check. Tony looked at her for a second, relieved, which Charlie could understand, if the sound check was delayed, then everything else would be too. On the other hand, she's still worried about Brian's disappearance. But before she can get too far in her overthinking Freddie appeared again. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Darling, can I call you Athena? You need your own nickname," He declares./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Athena?" Charlie asks curiously. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Because of your tattoo; one of her symbols was an owl."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie smiled, remembering the larger owl on her shoulder and upper arm, "I didn't realise you were familiar with Greek mythology."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Is that a yes?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sure, Freddie, call me whatever you want."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie lent in and whispered into her ear, "Would've called you Athena even if you had said no, darling," And without waiting for an answer, marched off./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Not surprised!" Charlie yelled after him, echoing his laughter. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShrugging, Charlie walks over to the amps to get herself plugged in. The roadie, Liam she thought he name was, had just finished plugging in John, and when he looked up at her, he smiled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Gee, Brian, you've changed a lot."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed, "No one knows where he is." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"So, you've been volunteered? Freddie, I bet."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yes. On both accounts."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You're the new guitar tech, right?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie nodded./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"That explains it, the rest of us don't really know how to play. We used to just have to wait if anyone was late, but since you can play, it makes sense." He plugged her in, "Play a bit to make sure it's all good." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie started to play a bit of 'Liar', which came through loud and clear across the amps./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nice riff, you're all set, then."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie smiled, "Thanks." She goes off, passing Roger, whose sitting at his fully set-up drum kit./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hey, Charlie… or should I say, Athena?" Roger greeted, smiling widely. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh, shush you. I see you finally got the kit sorted out."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, thanks for the help with that. I see you're replacing Brian until he decides to show up. He's not normally like this, it's rare that he's late, I think he just slept in."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Well hopefully he'll turn up soon before I embarrass myself," Charlie laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Can you play?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Of course I can play, just not as well as Brian fricking May."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger laughed, "Do you know any of our songs?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAgain, Charlie nodded, "Of course I do; you're my favourite band, but not to the point of being confident performing them."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger chuckled again, "You'll be fine, even we stuff up from time to time."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What song do you normally use for sound check?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It changes from time to time, but we've been using 'Killer Queen' for a while now, mainly because of its versatility." He laughed, "Basically because it has a piano part and that's always good to test."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie nodded, "Well I'm pretty good with that song, it being one of my favourites and all."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Well, good luck to you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Quick question, do I sing harmonies too?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger shrugged, "Probably, Brian does so I don't see why not."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe laughed, rolling her eyes, "Thanks, Roger."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sound test!" One of the roadies yelled, "Drums!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanOn cue, Roger began a little tangent on the drums, which echoed through the amps./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Bass?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn played a bass riff, which sounded through the amps, albeit a little softly, and was turned up slightly during it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Lead?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie's heart immediately started beating harder, nervous. She fingered a chord and started to play what she knew of one of the riffs from 'Bohemian Rhapsody', gaining some acknowledgments from the other members as she did./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Vocals?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie started singing some of his 'Ah-oh's, and was turned down slightly. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Bass volume sound goods, shall we test is all together?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThere were several nods around and we were instructed to play. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"One! Two! One, two three four!" Roger yelled, the beats articulated by the clicks of his drum sticks./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie was very nervous, not only that she was about to play with the band Queen, but that she was playing on Brian's Red Special. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She keeps a Moet Chandon/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"In her pretty cabinet/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"'Let them eat cake' she says/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Just like Marie Antionette/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"A built-in remedy/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"For Kruschev and Kennedy/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"At anytime an invitation/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"You can't decline/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Caviar and cigarettes/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Well versed in etiquette/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Extraordinarily nice/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She's a Killer Queen/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Gunpowder, gelatine/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Dynamite with a laser beam/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Guaranteed to blow you mind/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Anytime/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Recommended at the price/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Insatiable at the price/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Wanna try?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"To avoid complications /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She never kept the same address/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"In conversation/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She spoke just like a baroness/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Met a man from China/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Went down to Geisha Minah/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Then again incidentally /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"If you're that way inclined/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Perfume came naturally from Paris/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"For cars she couldn't care less/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Fastidious and precise/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She's a Killer Queen/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Gunpowder, gelatine/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Dynamite with a laser beam/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Guaranteed to blow you mind/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Anytime/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanNow was the moment of truth, to show that she knew that she knew what she was doing. The guitar solo. Past the point of no return. Charlie's fingers flew over the frets, her pick striking certain strings with pin-point precision. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe nailed it. Along with the harmonies. She feels more alive than she ever had before, singing and playing with three quarters of Queen./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Drop of a hat, she's as willing as/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Playful as a pussy cat/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"The momentarily out of action/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Temporarily out of gas/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"To absolutely drive you wild, wild/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She's out to get you/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She's a Killer Queen/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Gunpowder, gelatine/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Dynamite with a laser beam/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Guaranteed to blow you mind/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Anytime/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Recommended at the price/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Insatiable an appetite/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Wanna try?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"You wanna try?/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center;" align="center"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWith a final few riffs, Charlie realised just how much she had gotten into her impromptu performance. She was facing Roger and John, who gave her a thumbs up and smiled. While Freddie announced, "That was fabulous, darlings!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie turned to see Brian May watching her, his dark hair falling in waves around his handsome face. He wore his iconic look of a white button down, a black vest and trousers. Her smile fell at the sight of him, thinking he'd be annoyed that she had played his guitar without asking, that they hadn't waited for him. He had made the thing, and Charlie knew better than anyone just how attached he was to it. But instead he confused her even more by raising his hands and clapping, making is way towards her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"That was very impressive."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanspan style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Uhh… Thank you, Mr. May." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Brian," He smiled, "I haven't seen someone play a guitar like that in a while, it was really very good." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie started to take the guitar off and give it to Brian, but he stopped her. span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hang on, I want to show you something." He unplugged the guitar from the main amp and into Charlie's smaller one. He then took her pick and handed her a sixpence. "Try it."span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie knew that there was something off about the sound of the guitar during their performance, and she knew it was because she didn't play like Brian did, and didn't have the same sound. But once she started picking away at the strings of the guitar using the serrated edges of the coin, she started to hear Brian's unique sound in it, and she soon started to experiment with rotating the coin when striking. She still sounded nothing like him, but it was closer than before at least. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It sounds different, doesn't it?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I had an idea that that was the reason why you used a sixpence rather than a pick, but somehow it still surprises me."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian laughed, "I have a strange way of playing the guitar. I mainly play with a coin because I can feel what the strings are doing through it, but I hold it loosely, and drop a lot of them."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie smiled, pulling a small bag of coins out of her pocket, "I know," She laughed, "But it sounds amazing, and that's what matters."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Well, thank you. You seemed to have impressed the others."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanShe looked over to where Brian was looking, to find the other members of Queen talking in a group, tilted in their direction. "Well, it is kinda my job to take care of guitars, so it only makes sense that I know how to play one."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian shrugged, "I've met guitar techs that are good at their jobs but hopeless at playing."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Well then they need to get their asses in gear."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian laughed, "I'll be sure to tell them that."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Maggie!" Freddie yelled from across the stage, "Where were you?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I slept in, Fred, sorry!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Damn it, darling, you almost messed us all up; you're lucky Athena there knows how to play our riffs."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrain looked down at Charlie, "Athena?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Charlie," She smiled, "Athena's just my new nickname apparently, because of my tatts."span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian looked at her arm and whistled, "Nice tattoos. Oh, the Owl, it's one of Athena's symbols. I get it. Makes more sense that some of Fred's other names."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie shrugged, "It's better than Maggie."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian nodded, laughing, "Fancier, too."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Are we practising, or what?" Roger yelled gruffly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, yeah," Brian rolled his eyes and smiled at Charlie, "Impatient prick."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed back, and handed Brian his guitar, watching as he started fingering frets out of habit. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's all tuned," Charlie said nervously./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hmm?" Brian looked up, "Oh, I know, I was just getting warmed up." He laughed, "I have some weird habits, sorry about that."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I think we all do, I'll get used to them eventually."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian smiled at her, making his way over to the band to start practising. From all the way across the stage, Charlie heard Brian say to John, "Well, at least if one of us sleeps in, we don't delay sound check with Charlie around."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn nodded, "Can she play bass?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian shrugged, "Ask her."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn looked over her, "Hey, Charlie," He said, not yelling, but speaking louder than usual, "Can you play bass?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie smiled, "I can… just not as well as you, John."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn smiled, making Charlie beam, "Awesome."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"That doesn't give you slackers an excuse to sleep in," Roger commented./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed, going back to preparing for the show, setting up her sound board, Brian's pedal, the backup guitars and spare strings and coins for in case Brian broke one, or dropped his. Steve, the piano tech, joined her soon after the band started practicing, and they had a good chat while laughing at the hijinks the band got up to. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie loved the bond that the band had; they were family, and it showed. They respected each other, they knew each other's strengths, weaknesses, how to play off each other, how to support each other perfectly and so much more. They complimented each other perfectly and it showed in their performances. In their practices, however, even a little mistake would send them all sprawling out into laughter, insulting each other and making jokes. But it was funny, and that added to the show, you got to see the men behind the instruments, the personalities behind the personas. If she hadn't known them all, she would've thought that their personalities would've clashed so badly it would've torn them apart within years. Their personalities did clash, but they also complimented each other. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"John? He was quiet, reserved, but could also out-dance anyone, and was kinda adorable because of it. He began to open up the longer he knew you. He would laugh at jokes no one had said, that he had thought. He was very empathetic, but tended to keep his feelings to himself. He was a nervous person, wasn't the biggest fan of touring for long periods of time. When he talked, everyone would listen. He often settled the band arguments through compromise. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Roger? He was loud, aggressive when playing, but also had a killer sense of humour and showmanship… and also a wicked falsetto. He was hot, and he knew it. He knew that girls fawned over him, and used this to his advantage. But he was also very caring, when you were important to him. He was the first person Charlie would see supporting John, the first person who tended to notice when Brian and Freddie were off on their own tangents. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Freddie? He was a true showman, interacting with the audience, getting them hyped and involved in the songs, controlling them with simple hand gestures. He interacted with the band, made them feel involved, made sure everyone knew this was a team effort, that the others mattered, that he wasn't the 'leader'. He was also the sweetest person you'd meet off stage./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian? Tall… lanky… that hair… sorry, got off track. Brian? Knew how to get the crowd involved, knew how to play off the others, he interacted with Freddie seamlessly. He was polite, a gentleman, but indulged in 15-minute guitar solos, which were awesome. Brian was an enigma, he knew how to have fun, how to read people, but he was also modest, never bragged, and never brought up the band in any way unless you asked him about them. He held the door for others, was always early, and prepared (rarely he could get lost in something else), he made sure everyone else was alright before himself, he has supportive. He was protective of his friends, his family. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanspan style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Together, they made one of the biggest up-and-coming rock acts of the 70's. You couldn't take them separately, or without one of them. It was their combined sound, their combined creativity that made up Queen. They were all hugely talented musicians on their own, and together they were unstoppable. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"And they were just getting started. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p 


	2. Chapter 2

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="center"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Chapter Two: Broken Strings/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;" align="center"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"It was 1976, and they were on the same tour that they were on last year. Brian and the band were getting ready in the dressing room backstage. They always got ready together, wore robes when changing pants, and had some good laughs while warming up. Freddie was slipping into his elaborate cape, doing his hair. Roger was getting annoyed at people staring at his legs, trying to find the right pair of pants that he wanted to wear at this time. John was nervously changing in the corner, wearing his colourful shirts and suede boots. Brian was struggling to do up his own elaborate shirt, as it was laced up at the back. He and Freddie had costumes designed for them by Zandra Rhodes. They were flamboyant, perfectly Freddie's style, but Brian wanted to support him, as they were also so em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Queen/em, and so, despite being perfectly straight (which they were beginning to suspect that Freddie wasn't, not that they cared), he donned the costumes anyway. Finding no one around to help him, and with the band busy themselves, he found the perfect candidate when Charlie walked in nervously./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Brian, where have you hidden the Red Special? I need to check that it's still tuned," Charlie asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Charlie! Perfect timing! Can you tie me up? I'll grab it for you afterwards," /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie seemed shocked, but nodded and began to tighten the strings, "How tight?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Just so it doesn't fall off or undo during the show."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She tightened it a bit further, "Is that good?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Perfect, thanks, Charlie."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie tied and knotted the strings, making sure they didn't untie, "There you go."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Thanks," Brian said again, "I'll just go and get my guitar."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"As Brian ran off, he left Charlie alone in the room of his half-dressed band mates. Roger took this opportunity to tease her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""I didn't know that it was your job to dress him, too," He laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Freddie chuckled, "Hey, Deacy! Do you need help, too? Apparently it's Athena's job to wait on you two hand and foot."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"John turned and smiled shyly at the nervous Charlie, "No, I'm fine, thank you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Freddie and Roger laughed again./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Hey, he needed help, I'm not going to refuse him," Charlie said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Ha! You should, it'd be funny seeing his reaction," Roger laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Darling, while you're here," Freddie smiled, fussing with his hair, "I just want you to know how lovely it is to have you with us. You're very talented, and it's wonderful that you're ours and not someone else's." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie stood, shocked, for a moment. Freddie's comment made her emotional; one of her idols just told her that he liked the fact that she was on his crew. She managed to say, "Thank you, Freddie, that really means a lot," She was tearing up, but she refused to cry in front of the band./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian decided now was a good time to return, along with the Red Special. He took one look at Charlie and turned on Roger, "What did you say to her? She's been nothing but helpful!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Roger raised his hands in surrender, "I didn't do a thing, Brian, it was all Freddie."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian crossed his arms and glared at Freddie with severe disapproval./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""No, it's alright, Brian. He was just complimenting me, that's all. I'm just an emotional wreck on a daily basis," Charlie smiled, sniffing. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Right," Brian said, as if he didn't quite believe her, and handed her his guitar, "Thanks again for your help, I'll be ready and out soon."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"She smiled, "Thanks, I'll be sure to have her ready for when you come out." And she left, trying to get her emotions in check, feeling stupid and ashamed of getting emotional in front of the band in the first place. Instead, she occupied herself with tuning Brian and John's guitars. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Meanwhile, Brian looked at Freddie, "What did you say to her?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Freddie shrugged, "I just said that I appreciated her being with us, and that I thought she was talented, that's all, darling."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Maybe it just meant a lot to her," John said from his corner, turning, "Not everyone gets endless compliments."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""She did say that we were one of her favourite bands," Roger added. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""This is probably a dream for her, just let her get used to it. Feeling wanted isn't something that everyone is used to."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"The band knew that John had a strange habit of spouting really deep stuff randomly, but they never quite got used to it. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian finished tying his shoes, "Okay, well I'm off to make sure she's okay. And to make sure everything is working, you know the drill."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""I'll be out soon, darling," Freddie said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Roger laughed, "Like Hell you will, Fred. You'll be fussing with your hair for another hour."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian chuckled, making sure that the white nail polish on his left hand hadn't chipped off since he painted it on, and waved, shutting the door behind him. He wondered through the backstage area, dodging and weaving through the people hurrying around to get things working last minute. He made it to Charlie's impromptu station without being run down, to find her diligently tuning the guitars and making sure everything was working and in its right place. She had a rack of guitars next to her, one of which Brian recognised as John's bass, and his backup Red Special. Brian hadn't had a guitar tech himself before, but he knew guitarists that did, and when he told them about Charlie, they were jealous. Was it not normal for guitar techs to have the spares ready in case something went wrong? It seemed pretty important, and Charlie was all over everything. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""It can't be that out of tune," Brian said softly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie jumped, "Jesus, do you guys know how to em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"not /emscare me? Every one of you has scared me multiple times this tour." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian chuckled, rubbing his neck, "Sorry about that."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie sighed, "It's tuned, has been for a while, I'm just trying something out," She said, playing around with a rectangle that she had attached to the guitar strap, underneath the buckle. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""What's that for?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie smiled, "You'll see. Just give me a sec…There! That should stay." She handed the guitar to Brian, placing it around his neck and turned to rummage through the spare parts drawer behind her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian was fingering frets, confused about what this new contraption was that Charlie had put on his guitar strap. One side of it was hollowed out, like you slide something into it…/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie had turned back around with the bag of sixpences in her hands. She took several out and placed them into the rectangle, lining them up. And they stayed there, the thing held them there. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian was astonished, "It's a coin holder," He said stupidly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie was beaming, "Do you like it? I've been working on it for a while, it's easier than coming to me every time you drop one. It only holds five, but I can stock it up during your break, so it doesn't run low. I can take it off if yo—"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""I love it," Brian said, interrupting her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Really?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Yeah, it's brilliant! Now if I drop one, I just have to pull one out," He said, trying it out. He pulled a coin out with ease, plucked a few strings, and replaced it. "I can't believe no one else thought of this. You are truly brilliant, Charlie, thank you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie was blushing, but still beaming, "I'm glad you like it."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian grabbed her hand, "Come on, I have to show the guys."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""I'd rather—"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""They'll love it, don't be ridiculous."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"So Charlie allowed herself to be dragged back to the dressing room by an overexcited Brian, who was holding the Red Special's neck with his other hand so it didn't swing and hit anything. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian burst into the room, "Guys, look at what Charlie made!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Roger and Freddie were obviously in the middle of something, because they froze in what appeared to be mid-tug-off-war with a hairbrush. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian sighed, "For God's sake, Roger, it takes Fred enough time to get ready without you stealing his hair brush. We're on in ten, give it back."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Roger mumbled something under his breath and gave Freddie back the brush./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""What is it that you wanted to show us?" John asked, walking towards them./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Roger even joined, still mumbling to himself, followed by Freddie, who was brushing his hair. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""What's that on your strap, dear?" Freddie asked./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""That's what I wanted to show you!" Brian smiled, "Charlie made this for me, it hold my sixpence's, so if I drop one, I can just pull another out and keep playing."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"There was silence for a moment, in which Charlie's heart sank./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""That is awesome!" Roger exclaimed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Wonderful, dear!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"John nodded, smiling, "Very inventive."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie began to beam again, "Just doing my job," She said, blushing./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Oh, for God sakes, darling," Freddie sighed, "If I hear you say that one more time, I, personally, will slap you. You, dear, are doing so much more than 'your job'."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Roger chuckled, "I'm with Fred, Char, you do a lot more than expected of you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""And we greatly appreciate it," John added quietly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian looked at her, "I told you so."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie suddenly found her shoes fascinating, "Thank you. I'm happy to help, really." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Tony came in, saving Charlie from embarrassing herself further, "You're on in 5. Could you guys start headed backstage?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Of course, dear," Freddie smiled, leading Roger and John as they followed Tony out of the room./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian walked backstage with Charlie, laughing with her on the way. He had gotten to know her better as the tour went on. She was funny, smart and creative. She was incredibly passionate about her work. He had found her singing Queen songs while working multiple times, and is convinced that '39 is her favourite, due to the amount of times she's sung it. He also knew that she was a great singer, but knew she was insecure and shy and hadn't gotten around to telling her yet. He got himself plugged into his amp system, but found himself watching Charlie set herself up for the show not 10 metres from him. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"He was torn from his daydream by the tape playing the operatic section of 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. He needed to prepare himself for the rock-section that followed, one of the hardest guitar riffs that he had written, and play it straight out of the gate. He did, of course, walking out on stage and into the fog that covered the stage. The stage lit up, revealing Roger at his kit, John and Freddie emerging from the other side of the stage. The crowd's cheering was deafening, and the energy surged right through Brian. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Performing made him feel alive./span/p 


	3. Chapter 3

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian was in the middle of the 'Liar' solo when one of his strings snapped. It was rare that this happened, and it stunned him momentarily. But he saw movement out the corner of his eye, and turned to see Charlie beckoning him, his spare guitar in her hands. He raced towards her, taking the guitar off as he did, and swapped the guitars with her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Always be prepared," She told him, "It's all ready to go."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Thank you," He said as he swung it back over his neck, pulled the coin out of the other holder around the strap of this guitar too, and started his playing again, along with the bass and drum lines that Roger and John had held up. He smiled at Charlie, and went back into the performance. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAfter a few encores, Brian and the band finished their performance. He found himself trying to find Charlie. He found her somewhere backstage, finishing re-stringing his guitar./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You really saved my ass back there," Brian said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie didn't look up, but smiled, "It's my job."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian laughed, "It's also Clint's job to make sure Roger's drum kit doesn't fall apart on him, or that he has spare sticks in case they break. I remember him playing 'Brighton Rock' with one stick a few shows ago. You go above and beyond the call of duty, Charlie. The whole band knows it, and John and I have noticed, give yourself some credit."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie blushed, continuing the re-stringing, "I keep a spare on me at all times, just in case. You never know what'll happen. I have one for John on standby too, but bass strings are thicker and harder to break."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, well, you really saved my neck back there, saved the song and possibly the show. Let me repay you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No, it's fine, Brian, really./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I will drag you out whether you like it or not, Ms Fitzgerald."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed, "Fine. What are you torturing me with?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Dinner," Brian said simply, "On me." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie looked up, a look of pure shock of her face. "Seriously?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, like a date." Brian said nervously./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie began to smile, and it grew to ear to ear, "I'd be honoured." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian beamed, "Brilliant. There's no show tomorrow, are you free."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I am now."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian laughed, "Excellent. I'll pick you up around 6."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll try to be awake."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWith a chuckle, Brian waved Charlie goodbye and left to sleep./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p 


	4. Chapter 4

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Brian was in the middle of the 'Liar' solo when one of his strings snapped. It was rare that this happened, and it stunned him momentarily. But he saw movement out the corner of his eye, and turned to see Charlie beckoning him, his spare guitar in her hands. He raced towards her, taking the guitar off as he did, and swapped the guitars with her./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Always be prepared," She told him, "It's all ready to go."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;""Thank you," He said as he swung it back over his neck, pulled the coin out of the other holder around the strap of this guitar too, and started his playing again, along with the bass and drum lines that Roger and John had held up. He smiled at Charlie, and went back into the performance. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanAfter a few encores, Brian and the band finished their performance. He found himself trying to find Charlie. He found her somewhere backstage, finishing re-stringing his guitar./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You really saved my ass back there," Brian said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie didn't look up, but smiled, "It's my job."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian laughed, "It's also Clint's job to make sure Roger's drum kit doesn't fall apart on him, or that he has spare sticks in case they break. I remember him playing 'Brighton Rock' with one stick a few shows ago. You go above and beyond the call of duty, Charlie. The whole band knows it, and John and I have noticed, give yourself some credit."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie blushed, continuing the re-stringing, "I keep a spare on me at all times, just in case. You never know what'll happen. I have one for John on standby too, but bass strings are thicker and harder to break."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, well, you really saved my neck back there, saved the song and possibly the show. Let me repay you."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No, it's fine, Brian, really./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I will drag you out whether you like it or not, Ms Fitzgerald."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed, "Fine. What are you torturing me with?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Dinner," Brian said simply, "On me." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie looked up, a look of pure shock of her face. "Seriously?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yeah, like a date." Brian said nervously./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie began to smile, and it grew to ear to ear, "I'd be honoured." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian beamed, "Brilliant. There's no show tomorrow, are you free."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I am now."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanBrian laughed, "Excellent. I'll pick you up around 6."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I'll try to be awake."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWith a chuckle, Brian waved Charlie goodbye and left to sleep./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"Charlie was awake before 9, which was unusual for her on her days off. Her mind was racing. She was going on a date with Brian May. She had a goddamn date with Brian fricking May. What would she wear? Did she have anything to wear? She had some formal clothes for the afterparties and interviews that she may or may be attending. She stumbled over to her closet and opened it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"God damn it," She mumbled. The only formal clothes she had were either too formal, or too revealing for a first date with Brian May. She only really had one choice: her lacy black dress. She had brought the matching heels with her, and had the makeup she normally wore with it. It would just take a few hours for her to apply it. She had finished lunch and had just gotten all of the required makeup out on her bathroom counter when there was a knock on the door./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanWith a muttered curse, she walked over and opened the door. She was surprised to find Roger, Freddie and John in front of her. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Umm, hi?" She found herself saying. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger laughed, "I told you she'd be surprised to see us." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie rolled his eyes, "Of course she is, darling, we didn't announce ourselves."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Good morning, Charlie," John smiled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie smiled back, "Morning, John. It's lovely to see you, but why are you here?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"A little birdie told us that you and daddy long legs are going on a date tonight," Roger smiled. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay…?" Charlie was still confused, it didn't surprise her that they knew, but that didn't explain why they were here./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"We're here to help you get ready, dear!" Freddie announced./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You are?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Of course! We've been trying to get Bri to ask you out for em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"weeks /emnow."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger laughed, "And now that he has, you're officially part of the family. And that means that you have to put up with our bullshit."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"And our help," John added, side-eyeing Roger. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh, well, that'd be great, actually. I'm hopeless at doing my own makeup, and I could use the company."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Fabulous, darling!" Freddie beamed, "I'll make you look like a princess." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie found herself smiling and stepped out of the door way. They all lived in the same hotel, but she didn't expect them to visit her. Freddie strutting in first, quickly followed by Roger, with John nervously bringing up the rear. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I hope we're not intruding," He said, stopping next to Charlie, watching the other two explore the hotel room./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Don't be ridiculous, John, I'm always happy to have you lot. Even you, Roger!" She laughed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger laughed, flipping her off./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn smiled, "You can call me Deacy if you want, you're one of us now."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Thanks, Deacy," She beamed, "What was it that Freddie said earlier? That you guys have been trying to get Brian to ask me out for a while now?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn chuckled, "He came back after a show once and wouldn't stop talking about how much he appreciated your help, and all that. Every time you'd set us up, he'd start talking about you. That sort of thing. Freddie and Roger got sick of it after a while, told Brian that he had a crush on you, and have been pandering him about it since. They were so happy when he came back yesterday, telling us that he'd asked you on a date tonight. They practically tackled him. It was rather amusing."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed, "That does sound pretty funny." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"How do you live in this place, dear?" Freddie asked, "It's tiny!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHer room was the standard, wasn't big, but wasn't small. It was far bigger than the rooms she's stayed in on previous tours with other bands, "Just because it's smaller than yours, Freddie."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe band members got bigger rooms, for obvious reasons, "No bath? A travesty!" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger rolled his eyes, chuckled, "So what're you wearing?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"A dress?" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger sighed, "Help a guy out, here, Char."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie went over and took the dress out of her closet, "This," She says./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger whistled, drawing Freddie out of the bathroom./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Darling, that is fabulous! Put it on, dear, put it on!" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie looked at John, who just shrugged, "It's easier if you just do what they say."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Right," She muttered, shutting herself in the bathroom and getting changed into the dress. She was relieved that she had shaved her legs recently, given how much she showed in this dress. She strapped her heels on, and stood, losing her balance for a second, before immerging from the bathroom./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger, Freddie and John had sat themselves on her bed, directly across from the bathroom, intently waiting, whispering amongst themselves./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger whistled again, "I em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"love /emthat dress."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie hit him, "Keep it in your pants, Rog, she's taken."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger blushed, Charlie laughed, "So Roger likes it, anyone else?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You look stunning, dear," Freddie beamed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You suit it," John said quietly. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You have lovely legs," Roger said, trying to compliment Charlie without enduring Freddie's wrath./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay, so we have the dress down, now for the makeup," Charlie smiled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It'll be pretty cold tonight," John said, "Do you have black tights?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Yes, I do, and they'll suit this dress quite nicely."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn smiled as Charlie found her stockings and disappeared into the bathroom to put them on./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Gosh it's been a while since I've worn a dress," Charlie said as she came out again, "Or stockings."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFreddie turned to find Roger staring at Charlie's legs, and hit him again, "Seriously, Rog!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRoger blushed again, "Sorry."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanCharlie laughed, "You had your chance, Roger, should've taken it while you could."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe chuckled, "I wouldn't do that to Bri, it was pretty obvious that he liked you from the start. I do have a moral code."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJohn and Freddie burst out laughing./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh, shut up, you two."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt;"span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 106%; font-family: 'High Tower Text',serif;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Come on, dear," Freddie smiled, "Let's get your face on." /span/p 


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